Can an Italian Jew Serve as Israel’s Ambassador to Italy?

Fiamma Nirenstein grew up in Italy, lived in Israel for two decades as a correspondent for Italian newspapers, and served in the Italian parliament from 2008 to 2013. She has now been appointed Israel’s ambassador to Italy. Some Italian Jews have reportedly protested that her appointment raises questions about their own fealty to the Italian state. Ruthie Blum responds:

[Nirenstein] has never concealed her passion for Israel, a country she says is “filled with heroes.” And human ‎rights. And the ability to retain its democratic principles even while forced, repeatedly, to go to war. ‎Conveying this message is precisely what an Israeli envoy abroad should be doing. One who speaks ‎the language and knows the culture of the country to which he is dispatched makes such a mission ‎even more effective.‎

The only thing remotely problematic about Nirenstein’s appointment, then, lies in the irony that her ‎recent official immigration to Israel is accompanied by returning to Italy for the next few years. Now ‎she will do so after relinquishing her Italian citizenship, however, as is required of Israeli diplomats ‎born [outside the country].‎

If the Jewish community in Italy is worried about backlash from this move, it is not Nirenstein they ‎should be countering, but rather the anti-Semitic climate that is causing their angst. In any case, she ‎claims that reports of its hysteria are being widely exaggerated, judging by the massive amount of ‎enthusiasm she has encountered—on the part of Italian Jews and non-Jews across the political and ‎cultural spectrum—since the announcement of her appointment.‎

Read more at Israel Hayom

More about: Anti-Semitism, Israel & Zionism, Israel diplomacy, Italian Jewry, Italy

When It Comes to Iran, Israel Risks Repeating the Mistakes of 1973 and 2023

If Iran succeeds in obtaining nuclear weapons, the war in Gaza, let alone the protests on college campuses, will seem like a minor complication. Jonathan Schachter fears that this danger could be much more imminent than decisionmakers in Jerusalem and Washington believe. In his view, Israel seems to be repeating the mistake that allowed it to be taken by surprise on Simchat Torah of 2023 and Yom Kippur of 1973: putting too much faith in an intelligence concept that could be wrong.

Israel and the United States apparently believe that despite Iran’s well-documented progress in developing capabilities necessary for producing and delivering nuclear weapons, as well as its extensive and ongoing record of violating its international nuclear obligations, there is no acute crisis because building a bomb would take time, would be observable, and could be stopped by force. Taken together, these assumptions and their moderating impact on Israeli and American policy form a new Iran concept reminiscent of its 1973 namesake and of the systemic failures that preceded the October 7 massacre.

Meanwhile, most of the restrictions put in place by the 2015 nuclear deal will expire by the end of next year, rendering the question of Iran’s adherence moot. And the forces that could be taking action aren’t:

The European Union regularly issues boilerplate press releases asserting its members’ “grave concern.” American decisionmakers and spokespeople have created the unmistakable impression that their reservations about the use of force are stronger than their commitment to use force to prevent an Iranian atomic bomb. At the same time, the U.S. refuses to enforce its own sanctions comprehensively: Iranian oil exports (especially to China) and foreign-currency reserves have ballooned since January 2021, when the Biden administration took office.

Israel’s response has also been sluggish and ambiguous. Despite its oft-stated policy of never allowing a nuclear Iran, Israel’s words and deeds have sent mixed messages to allies and adversaries—perhaps inadvertently reinforcing the prevailing sense in Washington and elsewhere that Iran’s nuclear efforts do not present an exigent crisis.

Read more at Hudson Institute

More about: Gaza War 2023, Iran nuclear program, Israeli Security, Yom Kippur War